Kitáb-i-Íqán — §2

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 2 of 291.

Source (Persian)

جوهر اين باب آنکه سالکين سبيل ايمان و طالبين کؤوس ايقان بايد نفوس خود را از جميع شئونات عرضيّه پاک ومقدّس نمايند، يعنی گوش را از استماع اقوال و قلب را ازظنونات متعلّقه به سُبُحات جلال و روح را از تعلّق به اسباب ظاهره و چشم را از ملاحظه کلمات فانيه و متوکّلين علی اللّه و متوسّلين اليه سالک شوند تا آنکه قابل تجلّيات اشراقات شموس علم و عرفان الهی و محلّ ظهورات فيوضات غيب نامتناهی گردند . زيرا اگر عبد بخواهد اقوال و اعمال وافعال عباد را از عالِم و جاهل ميزان معرفت حقّ و اوليای اوقرار دهد هرگز به رضوان معرفت ربّ العزّه داخل نشود و به سر منزل بقا نرسد و از جام قُرب و رضا مرزوق نگردد.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The essence of these words is this: they that tread the path of faith, they that thirst for the wine of certitude, must cleanse themselves of all that is earthly—their ears from idle talk, their minds from vain imaginings, their hearts from worldly affections, their eyes from that which perisheth. They should put their trust in God, and, holding fast unto Him, follow in His way. Then will they be made worthy of the effulgent glories of the sun of divine knowledge and understanding, and become the recipients of a grace that is infinite and unseen, inasmuch as man can never hope to attain unto the knowledge of the All-Glorious, can never quaff from the stream of divine knowledge and wisdom, can never enter the abode of immortality, nor partake of the cup of divine nearness and favour, unless and until he ceases to regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets.

Translation Notes

جوهر

j-w-h-r → “essence”

literal: jewel; essence; gem; substance

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

باب

b-w-b → “words”

literal: door; gate; chapter; way; manner

آنکه

ʾ-n → “this: they that”

literal: that; indeed; that, to

سالکين

s-l-k → “Deal” Distinctive

literal: conduct; behavior; way; path; spiritual wayfaring

سبيل

s-b-l

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

ايمان

ʾ-m-n → “path of faith”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

طالبين

ṭ-l-b → “theme” Distinctive

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

کؤوس

k-ʾ-s → “cup”

literal: cup; cup/goblet; cup, chalice

ايقان

y-q-n → “of certitude”

literal: certainty; certitude; conviction; faith

بايد

b-y-d → “must”

literal: by hand; with hands; eternal; perpetual; everlasting

نفوس

n-f-s → “themselves” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

خود

kh-w-d

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

جميع

j-m-ʿ

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

شئونات

sh-ʾ-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

عرضيّه

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away” Distinctive

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

پاک

p-ʾ-k → “cleanse”

literal: pure; clean; sanctified; holy

ومقدّس

q-d-s

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

نمايند،

n-m-ʾ → “will” Distinctive

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

يعنی

ʿ-n-y

literal: that is; meaning; i.e.

گوش

g-w-sh → “ears”

literal: ear; hearing; to listen

استماع

s-m-ʿ

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

اقوال

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

قلب

q-l-b → “their minds” Distinctive

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

ازظنونات

ẓ-n-n → “from vain imaginings”

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

به

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

سُبُحات

s-b-ḥ

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted

جلال

j-l-l

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

روح

r-w-ḥ

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

تعلّق

ʿ-l-q → “dependent” Distinctive

literal: attachment; connection; relationship

اسباب

s-b-b

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

ظاهره

ẓ-h-r

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

چشم

ch-sh-m → “their eyes”

literal: eye; vision; sight

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

کلمات

k-l-m → “words”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

فانيه

f-n-y → “perisheth” Distinctive

literal: annihilation; perishing; extinction; cessation; the threshold

متوکّلين

w-k-l → “trust” Distinctive

literal: trust; representative; reliance

علی

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

literal: God; Allah; deity; Divinity; divine nature; godhood

متوسّلين

w-s-l → “holding fast unto Him”

literal: seeking-means; supplicating; seeking-means-ones

اليه

ʾ-l-y

literal: to; to him; besmirch

شوند

sh-w-d

literal: to not become; to not be

تا

t-y-y

literal: so that/until

قابل

q-b-l → “be made worthy”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

تجلّيات

j-l-w → “revelation” Distinctive

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation; manifestation, revelation, appearance

اشراقات

sh-r-q

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

شموس

sh-m-s → “sun”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

علم

ʿ-l-m → “of divine knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

عرفان

ʿ-r-f → “and understanding”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

محلّ

ḥ-l-l → “become the recipients”

literal: place; location; spot

فيوضات

f-y-ḍ → “grace” Distinctive

literal: flood; abundance; overflow; emanation; grace; overflowing; emanating; surplus

غيب

gh-y-b → “unseen”

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

نامتناهی

m-n-ʿ → “infinite”

literal: end, limit, utmost, extreme; final; the end, limit, utmost bound; Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing; end; limit; terminus

گردند

g-r-d

literal: to become; to happen; to come to pass

زيرا

z-y-r → “inasmuch as”

literal: because; since; for; inasmuch as

اگر

ʾ-g-r

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

بخواهد

kh-w-h

literal: to read; to call; to recite

اعمال

ʿ-m-l → “deeds”

literal: to work; to act; to do; to perform

وافعال

f-ʿ-l → “deeds”

literal: to do, act, make; deed, action

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “mortal men”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

جاهل

j-h-l

literal: ignorant; foolish; the ignorant ones

ميزان

w-z-n → “as a standard”

literal: weight; measure; to weigh

حقّ

ḥ-q-q

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

اوليای

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

اوقرار

q-r-r

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

دهد

d-h

literal: to give; to grant; to yield

هرگز

h-r-g → “never”

literal: never; at no time; never ever

رضوان

r-ḍ-w

literal: paradise; pleasure; paradise, divine pleasure

ربّ

r-b-b

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

العزّه

ʿ-z-z → “the All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

داخل

d-kh-l → “enter”

literal: to enter; to admit; to bring in

سر

s-r-r

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

منزل

n-z-l → “sent down” Distinctive

literal: to descend, to be revealed

بقا

b-q-y → “immortality”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

نرسد

r-s-d

literal: to arrive; to reach; to attain; to come

جام

j-ʾ-m → “cup”

literal: cup; chalice; garment

قُرب

q-r-b → “divine nearness”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

رضا

r-ḍ-y → “Thy pleasure” Distinctive

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction

مرزوق

r-z-q → “partake”

literal: sustenance; provision; to grant livelihood

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Bahá’u’lláh

The last outstanding Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, written around 1891 and addressed to Shaykh Muḥammad-Taqí of Iṣfahán. It calls upon that rapacious priest to repent, quotes the most celebrated passages from Bahá’u’lláh’s own writings, and adduces proofs establishing the validity of His Cause.

268 ¶

Fire Tablet

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed in late 1871 during a period of severe hardship in ‘Akká, this Tablet takes the form of an anguished dialogue between Bahá’u’lláh and God. Questions about the sufferings of the faithful are answered with divine assurances, building to a crescendo of triumph over tribulation.

50 ¶

Gleanings

Bahá’u’lláh

A compilation of 166 selections from Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets, spanning the Baghdad, Adrianople, and ‘Akká periods (1853–1892). George Townshend assisted with English refinement. Shoghi Effendi wrote that it gives the friends a splendid opportunity to acquire knowledge and understanding of the Faith.

729 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

Bahá’u’lláh

The Book of the Covenant — Bahá’u’lláh’s Will and Testament, written entirely in His own hand and unsealed on the ninth day after His ascension. It designates ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor and establishes what Shoghi Effendi called the mightiest Covenant in all religious history.

16 ¶

Prayers and Meditations

Bahá’u’lláh

Published in 1938, this companion volume to Gleanings contains 184 prayers and meditations selected by Shoghi Effendi from Bahá’u’lláh’s devotional writings revealed across successive exiles from Baghdad to ‘Akká. Shoghi Effendi described it as a volume whose perusal would deepen the spirit of devotion and faith.

858 ¶

Tablet of Aḥmad

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed in Adrianople and addressed to a believer named Aḥmad, this Tablet has been invested by Bahá’u’lláh with a special potency and significance. Its central imagery draws on the metaphor of fire and water: “Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My loved ones.”

17 ¶

Tablet of Carmel

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed during a visit to Mount Carmel, this Tablet addresses the mountain directly and prophesies its future as the world spiritual and administrative center of the Faith. Shoghi Effendi designated it one of three foundational Charters. Its imagery of the Ark and the dwellers therein prefigures the Universal House of Justice.

5 ¶

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

Bahá’u’lláh

Chanted aloud in the outskirts of Baghdad just weeks before the Declaration in the Garden of Riḍván, its gloomy prognostications aroused the grave apprehensions of all who heard it. Only the Arabic portion has an authorized translation; the Persian portion remains untranslated.

57 ¶

The Hidden Words

Bahá’u’lláh

Seventy-one Arabic and eighty-two Persian aphorisms revealed around 1858 while walking along the banks of the Tigris in Baghdad. Originally designated the “Hidden Book of Fáṭimih,” Shoghi Effendi described it as a marvelous collection of gem-like utterances occupying a position of unsurpassed preeminence among the ethical writings of the Faith.

160 ¶

Will and Testament

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in three parts between 1901 and 1908, opened and read after His passing on 28 November 1921. Shoghi Effendi designated it the Charter of the New World Order — the mightiest instrument forged to ensure the continuity of the three ages of the Bahá’í Dispensation.

59 ¶